The present invention relates to a device for and method of removing a component (in particular, but not exclusively, actuators) from an aircraft.
The removal of components, in particular actuators, from aircraft (especially large aircraft) may be a difficult process. Many actuators used on large, modern aircraft (such as those that can function using both electrical and hydraulic power) are heavy (up to about 52 kg). The manual handling of such heavy actuators may risk damage to the aircraft or the actuator or injury to the personnel handling the actuator. Moreover, Health and Safety legislation in the UK at least does not permit removal of such actuators by hand, the use of a lifting device such as a winch being necessary. In some cases, a winch can readily be used to remove an actuator from an aircraft when the actuator is accessible from above; in such cases a portion of aircraft skin or panel can be removed from an upper surface of the aircraft wing, the winch then being used to raise the actuator above the wing before lowering it to the ground.
The removal of an actuator from a wing by means of a winch is not however always practical, because there may be other components or structures obstructing access to and removal of the component by means of a winch.
Furthermore, with modern advances in aircraft wing design there is often little free space around the actuator. The removal of actuators and the like from aircraft can thus be difficult in view of there being little room to manoeuvre the component during its removal. The lack of free space can also result in there being no straightforward path of removal of the component from the aircraft.
The removal of components from large aircraft with relatively thin wings is particularly problematic because the space provided to accommodate the component is relatively small and the components are relatively large and heavy.